Summary:

Full Circle started out as a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) in 1996 and has turned into one of the largest Organic CSA type farm businesses in the Northwest. They are not only just a CSA however, they are also a reasonably sized distributors who’s products can be found in large retail stores. Closest location near this author is 2.5 miles away at a Top Food & Drug.

Full Circle is an excellent, wide range producer and distributor of organic food. It’s hard to quantify them specifically as they are a distributor, but technically each of their partners should be looked at individually. For example, Full Circle eggs come from Stieber Farms and Full Circle Dairy comes from Fresh Breeze Organic. Both of which us at NW Farm Review have reviewed before and find to be top notch producers. Click their names above to see prior reviews. Full Circle lists all their farmers and producers on their website here, it’s worth checking out.

So the other day there was a large sale for a variety of Full Circle Farms foods. Always eager to try organic foods, especially when they are on sale I bought a few items; not knowing very much about Full Circle. Sadly, it was primarily foods I don’t eat very often like grain based cereals, and ultra-pasturized milk. I did however purchase some of their eggs.

Normally I don’t purchase milk because it will go bad before my family can drink it all, as I’m an breakfast burrito guy in the morning and only granola once or twice a week – generally with yogurt. So my lack of cereal and mixed with the fact that I prefer the least amount of pasteurization I can get (which decreases the speed for milk spoilage) means I just rarely buy milk. I was going to purchase Full Circle milk anyways and just deal with it but while it was Organic and Whole (two musts!) it was ultra-pasteurized, which threw the deal for me. On ultra-pasteurization see some of the top google hits here, here and here. I just prefer it as natural as possible.

Full Circle Whole Milk - Ultra Pasteurized

However, like I said I did purchase eggs and sought then to taste test a few. I compared the Full Circle brand Organic, Brown eggs to Stiebrs Farms Organic, Free-Range, Omega-3 eggs. See below for the final product. Oh, and the bacon on the side, well it’s hard NOT to cook up some bacon if there is any defrosted and begging to be cooked, and this morning I added a strip of Beeler’s Bacon to the menu.

Full Circle & Stieber Farms Eggs with Beelers Bacon: Breakfast!

Full Circle & Stieber Farms Egg Carton Comparison

On an initial, pre-cook exterior examination, my personal thoughts are that the Full Circle eggs are on average slightly larger than the Stiebrs Farm eggs. Not all the eggs were larger, but on average; the batch was. Now, I cooked this comparision breakfast up without having done any research on Full Circle farms so I will write the article like I had initially intended. However, as I have now done research into Full Circle I will admit that there is a surprise revelation below.

Full Circle Upper, Stieber Farms Lower

On cooking the eggs one thing was readily apparent, the Stiebrs Omega-3 Eggs were had a much thicker, or stronger shell. The color was also slightly different though both organic eggs had a beautiful golden color. Overall I’d say Stiebr’s Omega-3 eggs were slightly more golden in color. If you click on the below picture to view it full size you should be able to see the slight difference. Take a look and comment below which egg appears more golden, I’ll let you know if I agree. Despite the Full Circle eggs appearing larger in their shell, once out of the shell I was unable to distinguish any difference in size of yolks between the two eggs. Obviously, as seen below, my cooking methods don’t allow for a comparison of the whites as they mix quite readily.

Full Circle and Stieber Farms Egg, Pre-Deliciousness

The below picture is moments before the scrumptious taste of eggs was to be mine! On a strict taste comparison I would say that they were equal yet slightly different in taste. The Omega-3 egg yolks due taste different and I wasn’t surprised by that as their diet is uniquely different.

Full Circle & Stieber Farms Eggs with Beelers Bacon: Breakfast!

Overall, after eating breakfast I concluded that while I still prefer Stiebr’s Farms eggs the Full Circle farms eggs would work in a pinch! My only real concern was that I didn’t know where the eggs came from and what the farming practices were. Obviously, a little bit of research can solve that matter.

Research: So while preparing for the Comparison blog post I obviously did a bit of reading up on Full Circle. Funny thing however, and I quote directly from the Full Circle website, here:

Steibrs Farm provides our members with cage-free, organic eggs that are absolutely free from GMO feeds or pesticides.

Haha! Oh my, it appears I may have been comparing Apples to Apples! Full Circle eggs ARE Stiebrs Farm’s eggs, just run through Full Circle’s different producer/store network. At first I was a little embarrassed about learning this because I thought it pointed me out as a biased reviewer; and while that still may be the case, after thinking about it I concluded that what it really showcases are the differences between the Organic and the Organic, Omega-3 eggs. The yolk color difference I can understand due to the dietary difference; but I am still surprised at the shell thickness difference. Both sets of hens are Cage-Free and unless Full Circle get’s something special, both are Certified Humane, which is top of the line in my opinion. I even went through and tested a few more eggs from each dozen, and each time I would say the Full Circle organic eggs have weaker shells. The Omega-3 diet, or whatever else get’s included in their special diet, must make for a stronger shell.